Boycott BP! Indiana Rallies Against Oil Company Lockout
More than 100 people including members of locked out United Steelworkers Local 7-1 called for a boycott of British Petroleum against its campaign to destroy the union and endanger the lives and livelihood of its workers. Set against a backdrop of U.S. warmongering in Iran and ICE raids, the rally also raised broad political themes about the need to protect workers of all kinds from state violence, exploitation, repression, and war.
In March of this year BP locked out 800 refinery workers who voted by 98 percent to reject the company’s contract proposal. The reasons for the no vote were simple. The company seeks to lay off approximately 100 unionized workers, force workers to waive their right to weigh in on the use of AI technology—another threat to jobs—and to force concessions on wages and benefits.
Standing in Solidarity with locked out BP workers. Photo by Socialist Horizon.
A coalition including Socialist Horizon, the Hammond Teachers Federation Local 394, Unite the Region for Justice, an immigrant defense group, and Indivisible organized the rally in defense of the workers.
The event was grounded in a call to boycott BP to shut down the profit stream that is drowning refinery workers. Two BP workers testified about increased safety hazards in the workplace and a clear-cut issue by the company to “destroy the union” through the lockout. Scabs are now keeping a refinery that is the largest single one of its kind in the U.S.—and crucial to BP’s rapacious profiteering.
Community support for the workers came from many quarters. Maria from Unite the Region for Justice linked the need to support refinery workers to protections for immigrants from ICE raids as a broad strategy to defend the working-class.
Juan from Socialist Horizon described BP as part of a capitalist system that was a threat to workers not just in Indiana but everywhere. He roused the crowd with the chant “Boycott BP!”
Linda Loew, a former steelworker from the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, connected the attack on BP workers to the charges of criminal conspiracy waged by the federal government at 11 union workers in Minneapolis, the case of the so-called “Minnesota 15.” Those workers were attempting to organize against ICE’s armed occupation of the city, a mass resistance movement that led to the January 23rd mass strike in that city.
Standing in Solidarity with locked out BP workers. Photo by Socialist Horizon.
Nancy Rosenstock from the Chicago Committee to Defend Tom Alter connected Alter’s firing as a teacher/worker for speaking at a Socialism conference to the BP lockout, saying both cases proved that “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Another Socialist Horizon speaker reminded the crowd that BP was originally called the “Anglo-Iranian Oil Company” because Iran was the original site of oil extraction for the company. The attack on workers in Whiting is part of a long history of capitalist and colonial attack on the world’s working class.
The fight against the BP lockout carries huge importance. The refinery is the lifeblood of Northwest Indiana. A permanent lockout, destruction of the union, or closing would devastate the working-class of the region.
BP’s attempts to inflict pain on the U.S. working class takes place as the U.S. pillages oil-rich countries like Venezuela and Iran through warfare. Workers under attack at home will also be ordered to fight the next imperialist war.
The BP boycott strategy is also a reminder of other struggles like the United Farm Workers grape boycotts, or more recently, the Palestinian BDS movement. Several speakers connected the fight for Palestinian liberation to the struggle for self-determination for BP workers.
As of now, Indiana BP workers are considering a new contract proposal but have no guarantee of the return of their jobs. Socialist Horizon will continue to stand with the workers and support the BP Boycott until their struggle is won.
Bill V. Mullen is a member of Socialist Horizon.
